Website Design Best Practices

Designing a website with a clear and targeted perspective can work wonders for your business and make it a raving success with just the right choice of layout and images. Just as your business is a manifestation of your ideas and conceptualization, your website design should be a mirror of your smart aesthetic sense. A spark of creativity and a unique personal touch can turn even the a simple website into a glorious success. Follow the following simple tips to make your web page stand out and shine amongst a sea of others!

Make it Eye-Catching

A dull and boring first impression may ward off the clients even before they read a word on your website thus making you lose many fruitful business opportunities. Make sure you use an appropriate and lively color scheme that is in compliance with your business attributes and appeals to your target market.

Attention to alignment, spacing, paragraphing and font styles never goes waste. Because grabbing the attention of the client is the first step in building a successful website. So, make sure you work hard on giving a lasting first impression of your website to your client!

Focus On Usability and Smooth Navigation

Ease of use should be the first thing on your mind when you design a website because it is the one factor that will prove to be the focal point in enhancing traffic on your website. Define appropriate tabs, toolbars, menus and buttons that aid the browsing experience and make your website appear user-friendly and comprehensive.

Think from the client’s perspective and add useful tidbits and shortcuts like FAQs section and search bars etc. Doing so will ensure that the customer visits your website again and again!

Content is King!

While the importance of custom design and interactive layout cannot be ignored, the content is actually the main thing that will grab your customers and give them a reason to opt for your services or brand. Web design can only be used to enhance the visual aspect of your website, while the main attention-grabber will be the content posted on your website.

Hence, make sure you use the correct tone and language to address your prospect clients and share the best aspects of your service with them to win them over at the first glance. Fresh and conversational content with enticing catch phrases can not only attract the customers but also keep them glued to their computer screens!

Keep Off the Clutter

Remember the basic rule of thumb when it comes to interactive design and creative web pages – less is more. Unnecessary images, videos and advertisements on the page can turn off the client and make them distracted and frustrated.

Avoid extra detailing and content on your website; because not only will it make your website difficult to comprehend, but it will also cause it to become heavier on the server and take a longer time to load.

If it’s not Clear and Consistent, it’s not Right

A smart layout is not only about creative conceptualization and informative content – it is the consistency and clarity of the entire layout that brings out the true feel of the visualization and makes it ‘pop-out’.

Consistency is not hard to achieve, you just need to give attention to detail when it comes to the choice of colors, fonts, design, and tone throughout the website. Use clear and concise detailing to make the web page easy to read. A little attention to detail can go a long way in giving the necessary zing and spice to your website! Try out these tips to make you firm more memorable and appealing in the eyes of your audience.

3 Comments

And, perhaps, the best way to put it all together is to start with a great template (like the one Lawyerist is built on): http://diythemes.com/. I don’t get any kickback for mentioning this myself, but I was looking into Thesis yesterday, and damn does it look like something I could use – as someone who doesn’t know a whole lot about code.

Chris:
I followed Sam’s advice and bought Thesis. I spend the next 4 months trying to customize it and got nothing but an amateur looking site. I couldn’t even find any web designers to hire to help me.

I then bought Genesis from Studio Press and built myself a good site in a week. I paid a web designer $600 and he further customized it perfectly.

No disrespect to you and Sam, but i think Thesis sucks. In the time it takes to figure out Thesis, you could teach yourself HTML and teach yourself to code an entire website from scratch; but I don’t have time for that.

I’ve tried to make it clear that Thesis is a fantastic framework for people already comfortable with HTML, CSS, and PHP — not to mention design chops. It’s not a good idea for someone without those skills.